Leave the Light On
by LanieSullivan
Summary: AU one-shot extended tag to answer the question, what if Dotty and the boys hadn't come home early in Dead Men Leave No Trails? COMPLETE
Author's Note: After just re-watching "Dead Men Leave No Trails," I once again found myself disappointed that Dotty and the boys, as usual, came home a day early. In viewing it, I noticed that Amanda was definitely the more aggressive one in the scene on the couch. He started to talk and she shut him up with a hand on his face. I decided to write this to answer the question, what if her family hadn't come home until the next day as she'd told Lee in the previous scene that they were scheduled to? For the purposes of this story, I'm assuming that some time elapsed between them leaving the hotel and them having dinner at her house where they must have each gone home separately as Amanda's wearing different clothes and Lee's wearing the same shirt, but different pants than he was in the prior scene.

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Lee was about to dig into his cake when his eye caught Amanda's. He couldn't help smiling at her as he found himself doing so often lately since they'd started seeing each other outside of work. His heart leapt as Amanda returned his smile with a warm, inviting smile of her own. He watched in breathless anticipation as she set her plate down on the coffee table, then set his own down seconds later. "Amanda..." he began reaching for her hands, but he was stopped by her leaning in first and instead of her holding her hands as he'd intended, his hands wound up at her waist as she reached for his face, then slid her hands into his hair as their lips met. Lee was electrified by the contact, the gentle pressure of her mouth against his. He moved his hands to her back to pull her closer, just as she was tugging on the back of his head to deepen their kiss.

Lee needed no further invitation. It was clear that Amanda wanted this just as much as he did. He teased her lips with his tongue, delighted when she opened her mouth to his. He wrapped his arms tightly around her pulling her into his lap as their lips met again and again, their tongues dueling as the explored each other for the first time. Lee couldn't help the moan that escaped him at what the feeling of having her so close, finally kissing her, _really_ kissing her was doing to him. He'd wanted to do this for so long. He was elated to hear her responding in kind and in knowing that he was having the same effect on her. God, how he loved her, wanted her, needed her like he needed the air he breathed. He pulled back from her in a daze, breathing heavily inhaling great gulps of much needed oxygen. He looked at her and saw that she was equally out of breath. "Amanda..." He began again, but once again, she silenced him, this time with a finger on his lips.

"Don't," Amanda warned him softly, her voice choked with emotion.

He kissed the finger that was on his lips before reaching for that hand and planting a kiss to her palm, then linked his fingers with hers. "Don't what?"He inquired. He had so much he wanted to say to her, but she kept stopping him. Why wouldn't she let him get it out?

"Don't bolt, don't disappear, and most of all, don't say whatever it is you're thinking of saying to try to brush this aside or justify it, so you can pretend it didn't happen," she explained. "This isn't a cover, an assignment, or in any other way related to the job. We just had a very nice, romantic dinner together like normal people. We're alone in my house, just the two of us, and can be for the next twenty-four hours. I invited you here knowing that and I know that I can't make you stay if you don't want to-"

This time it was Lee's turn to silence Amanda and he did so by pulling her head down to meet his and kissing her soundly, tangling his fingers in her thick curly hair. This time his kisses were more urgent, more demanding, filled with his determination to let her know how much she meant to him. If she wouldn't let him tell her, he was damned sure that he going to show her. He plundered her mouth relentlessly with his tongue savoring the taste of her, her fruity-flavored lips gloss mingled with the red wine they'd had with dinner. He pulled his lips from hers to move them to nip at her earlobe and felt her shiver in response, then proceeded to trail kisses down her neck gauging each response from her to find out what she liked best. When she tilted her head back to allow him better access, he knew he'd found his mark.

"Lee," she gasped as she tugged at the back of his head, her fingers sliding into his hair.

Hearing his name on her lips, feeling her pulling him close only encouraged him more. He suckled the tender spot on her neck delighting in hearing and feeing her being so responsive. He pulled back from her for a moment, brushed her lips softly with his again, and leaned his head against hers while he tried to catch his breath. It was then that his eyes were drawn to the patch of skin bared by the open top buttons of her checkered shirt. That spot had been driving him crazy all night, knowing that opening just one more of those buttons would expose her breasts to him. He knew he was taking a chance of pushing his luck, but he had to try. Knowing Amanda, she'd let him know instantly if he was going too far. He kissed her passionately again as he let one hand drift slowly down to his target, flicking that button open with ease and slipping his hand inside to caress one breast as he broke their kiss and lowered his mouth to the other.

"No," Amanda stopped him as she wriggled out of his arms and stood up. Lee sighed, mentally cursing himself for going too far and was about to apologize when he was surprised to hear her add, "Not here." He was further surprised when she reached for his hands to pull him from the couch and back into her arms. She kissed him softly, released one of his hands and used the other to lead him to the stairs.

When he saw where this was leading, he protested, "Amanda, wait. We should talk about-"

Amanda cut him off again with a fervent kiss wrapping her arms around his neck and probing his mouth with her tongue. He responded by pressing her up against the railing of the staircase that overlooked the foyer savoring the fiery feeling her kisses ignited, his jeans suddenly feeling uncomfortably tight as his arousal grew. After a few minutes, she pulled back, fixed him with an intense passion-filled gaze, and stated bluntly, "I'm tired of talking," before heading up the stairs giving him no choice but to either follow her or leave. He couldn't quite gauge the tone in her voice. He'd never heard that tone before. Was she pissed? The look she'd given him right before that comment hadn't made it seem so. He had to find out.

Lee made his decision, quickly darting up the stairs behind her. "Amanda, wait," he called after her, but she didn't slow down until she reached her bedroom. He caught up with her just as she walked through the door, reached for her arm, spun her around to face him and kissed her with all the love her felt for her that he couldn't yet put into words.

He felt her respond eagerly at first, kissing him back, but then she abruptly pulled back and said, "Don't toy with me like this, Lee. I can't take it anymore." He was astonished to see tears in her eyes. "You either want me or you don't. It's as simple as that."

"I'm not, Amanda, and I DO want you. You'd know that if you'd let me get a word in edge-wise," He stated pointedly as he tenderly stroked her face. "God, when you invited me over here tonight, I had no idea what you had in mind. I thought it was just a date, so I...uh...I..." He hesitated. Now that she was actually letting him talk, he wasn't sure how to broach the subject on his mind.

"You what?" She asked looking at him with that mildly annoyed expression of hers that he found to be so adorable, but also maddening at the same time.

"I'm...um...I'm not prepared for this," He spit out finally.

"Not prepared," She questioned, clearly lost for a moment. When he silently nodded toward her bed, he saw the realization dawn in her eyes. She shocked him again by laughing, saying, "Oh, is that all," then turning to open her nightstand, pulling a box of condoms out of it, dropping it on the nightstand's surface and closing the drawer again.

"Amanda..." He gazed at her in utter astonishment.

"You may not have been prepared for this, but I am," she said a mirthful twinkle in her eyes. "Now, where were we?" She said as she slid her arms up his chest and linked them around his neck.

He shook his head with a smile. He never stopped being surprised by her. He placed his hands on her waist and kissed her tenderly. "Are you sure? This is a big step."

"Lee, you talk too much," She scolded with a joking grin.

He couldn't help but laugh at that comment coming from her. "Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black," he teased.

"Just shut up and kiss me," she demanded pulling his head down to hers.

He complied willingly, kissing her soundly before sweeping her into his arms and lowering her to the waiting bed.

He reached for the lamp on her nightstand, but was stopped by her hand on his arm and a sharp, "No."

"No?" He looked at her questioningly.

She tugged on his arm to urge him fully into the bed with her and responded, "Don't you know it's always better with the lights on?'

"Is that what normal people do?" he jested, remembering their earlier conversation when she'd first invited him over.

"Mm-hmm, you just let me teach you about how normal people do...things." She gave him a wry grin as she tugged on the back of his head, pulling him down to meet her, eager and more than willing to teach him all the other things that normal people did.


End file.
